Geriatric Case Practice in Nursing Homes

What special skills and knowledge base do practitioners need to work in nursing homes? What ethical and legal issues do practitioners face in nursing homes? And how have reforms under the newly implemented 1987 OBRA legislature affected practice in nursing homes? With the rapid growth of nursing homes in the 1980s, questions such as these are now being raised by policymakers, administrators, practitioners, and others working in nursing homes. In this highly instructive volume, the authors examine these vital questions and explore such relevant issues as working with nursing home residents and their families, managing selected special populations, working with other members of the nursing home staff, legal and ethical issues, and the organizational and policy contexts that shape practice. In addition, the authors include structured learning tasks that can be used to guide the development of practice skills in supervised nursing home practicums and field settings. Professionals from a variety of fields including social work, nursing, geriatric mental health, medicine, and nursing home administration will find this book to be an invaluable resource in their own day to day work. "This book presents a useful and thorough introduction to the subject of case practice with older persons in nursing homes. While of interest to anyone who desires to work with older persons in nursing homes, this book will be particularly useful to students and professors in social work and gerontology courses. . . . Instructors will find that the chapters lend themselves effectively to course organization, and they will appreciate the model fieldwork assignments that are presented in the appendix." --Clinical Gerontologist "This book provides a detailed and practical introduction to the subject of geriatric case practice in nursing homes. To the authors' credit, the content reflects a sound psychosocial theoretical base consistent with social service and social work practice. Students, beginning case practitioners, and instructors will find this book to be a useful guide to geriatric case practice in nursing homes." --Clinical Gerontologist "Generally, the private nursing-home sector is poorly served with high quality literature specifically relating to this field; so, it is pleasing to find a book such as Geriatric Case Practice in Nursing Homes which is extremely well-written and fully referenced. . . . I definitely recommend [this book] to health-care staff from any profession who have contact with elderly people, particularly nursing and rest-home staff, hospital, community- and day-centre staff, and nursing-home inspectors." --Nursing Standard "Very useful as a textbook in schools of social work. . . . The text would be valuable to any professional neophyte in the nursing home industry who needs an overview of the field, its development and the policies that are meant to effect change in quality of care. A major strength of this text is found in the 26-page appendix which thoughtfully and in great detail provides outlines, including learning objectives, for implementing several model fieldwork assignments in nursing homes." --Priscilla Ebersole, Ph.D., R.N., F.A.A.N., Geriatric Nursing "It presents a great deal of informative material with clarity in a well-organizeed and useful manner. Students and others who work in nursing facilities will become well-acquainted with the dimensions and complexities of these institutions when they read this book." --Journal of Cross-Cultural Gerontology